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Totally Renewable Wiki
Introduction to the Debate The transformation to renewable energy has become controversial in public opinion. This website is designed to introduce the reader to the controversy surrounding the proposition of “an electricity system based 100% on renewable power”. Many institutions are involved in converting our energy system to one based on renewable sources. There are also vocal groups who feel that this transformation is infeasible or impossible. This website aims to summarize the stakeholders, the pros and cons of the various solutions and the most controversial aspects of this debate. Changes to an energy economy will have significant implications for all aspects of a society. Hence the stakeholders in debate surrounding the 100% renewable vision come from industry, regulatory bodies, the international community, internal political groups and the general public. All of these groups are heavily invested in the energy generation and its related industries. Most participants in this debate agree that anthropogenic climate change is a real and immediate threat to the planet. Hence the goal of a rapid reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission is shared amongst almost all parties. A limit of 2 degrees centigrade in surface temperature warming, as first suggested in the 2009 COP 15 discussions and agreed upon at the 2015 Paris Climate accords, is a frequent benchmark used to gauge the GHG reductions necessary in the 21st century. This benchmark serves to emphasis the rate at which the global energy economy must be partially or completely decarbonised to minimize the impact of global warming. How can this decarbonization be completed in the necessary timeframe, using sufficiently reliable and scalable technologies, at an acceptable economic cost? Most controversies lie in the answer to this question. Many parties feel this can be achieved using exclusively renewable technologies. Others feel that economic and technical constraints, particularly with regards to base-load power and load balancing of electricity networks make technologies such as nuclear, natural gas or CCS systems a necessary part of the energy mix. Both of these perspectives will be discussed on this website. Areas of Controversy Write a description about your topic. Let your readers know what your topic is about and add some general information about it. Main issues Grid instabiliy In simple words, the electric grid of a country works by balancing instantly the demand and the offer of electricity. At all times, the power supply has to match the power demand plus the grid losses, so that the grid is always balanced. If, at some point, the demand increases, or the supply goes down because, for instance, a power plant stops working, then the power consumed is higher than the power supply. This “extra” power will be provided by the kinetic energy of the turbines of conventional power plants, such as nuclear and coal, which consists of hundreds of tons of steel rotating at very high speeds. After gearing, the generators of conventional plants gyrate at the same speed following the grid frequency, because they are synchronous. Literally, the power mismatch described before is covered by reducing the kinetic energy of these turbines, which causes grid frequency to decrease. This frequency variation takes some seconds due to these massive turbines, and when frequency decreases, the grid operator has some time to introduce more power in the grid (with a combined cycle plant, for instance). This is how the grid frequency is controlled, because if it goes beyond the limits, breakers go off causing blackouts for protection reasons. Now, here is when the issue appears. Renewable energy doesn’t provide the grid with this inertia. If the grid was 100% renewable (for instance, with only wind and solar power), when a power mismatch happens, the frequency of the grid will vary much faster, causing blackouts. This is a serious issue, but there are some solutions to it. For instance, pumped hydro storage can be used to regulate the grid, but it takes seconds to actuate. Other solutions involve compressed air storage, power to gas and synthetic inertia. Synthetic inertia allows wind farms to emulate the behaviour of synchronous spinning generators, as a “one”, following the grid frequency. However, the most promising solution for the future is the introduction of smart grids. These would allow the intelligent use of home devices, such as car batteries, to control the grid itself. This is the key of projects such as ETIP SNET Vingerhoets, P., & Hatziargyriou, N. (2016). al., e.: The Digital Energy System 4.0. Smart Grids European Technology Platform, Tech. Rep. ISO 690. According to Robin Girard, the grid instability problem can be solved with battery storage, pumped hydro and Power to gas technologies. Bibliography Latest activity Photos and videos are a great way to add visuals to your wiki. Find videos about your topic by exploring Fandom's Video Library. Category:Browse